Armed Criminal Group Suspected of Burning Aircraft Used for Humanitarian Missions in Yahukimo

The Cartenz Peace Operation Task Force suspects that the burning of a pioneer aircraft belonging to PT AMA at Balinggama Airstrip, Yahukimo Regency, Papua Pegunungan, was carried out by an armed criminal group (KKB). The suspicion arose because the aircraft was the only means of air transportation connecting the Balinggama community with other areas, and was also used to carry out humanitarian missions and religious services. Head of the Cartenz Peace Operation Public Relations Task Force, Senior Commissioner Yusuf Sutejo, stated that it is highly unlikely that civilians would carry out an action that harms the local community. “It is reasonable to suspect that. Because ordinary civilians would not possibly attack the only means of transportation that connects the people in Balingga to the outside world,” he said on Thursday, 2 July 2026. However, Yusuf stressed that this suspicion still requires verification as officers have not yet processed the crime scene. According to him, air access is a vital necessity for the community in the region given Papua’s difficult geographical conditions, which are hard to reach by land. “Because civilians, especially, will definitely need that facility. So it is reasonable to suspect. We cannot be certain yet because we have not visited the scene, processed the scene, or collected statements and existing evidence,” he said. To uncover the exact cause of the incident, the Cartenz Peace Task Force has prepared a joint team to be deployed to the location. Yusuf said approximately three platoons of personnel will be dispatched from Wamena, with additional troop support from Timika and Yahukimo, to process the crime scene and collect evidence and witness statements. “Approximately three platoons,” he said. On the same occasion, Yusuf revealed that the burned PT AMA aircraft was a Pilatus-type pioneer aircraft that had been serving the Wamena-Balinggama-Wamena route. The aircraft was known to be carrying seven passengers and a pilot who is a United States citizen, Nicholas F. Goselin. “The passengers numbered seven people according to the passenger manifest we obtained from the airline. It was piloted by a US citizen, an American pilot. The route was Wamena-Balingga, Balingga back to Wamena. That was the flight route,” he said.